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French-cut Green Beans

I’ll be honest; this pin was not pre-planned AT ALL! If you remember the delicious scalloped potatoes from last week, these green beans were totally a last minute addition to that dinner. However, since writing two posts at the same time seemed a little too much, I decided to divvy them up and give these green beauties their own post.

I simply did a Pinterest search for French cut green beans (cause that’s the kind I had in my freezer), and this Martha Stewart recipe popped up. I was instantly intrigued by the addition of dill, and decided to give it a try. This particular recipe is actually 22 out of 49 really great green bean recipes on our white collar gangster homemaker’s website, so if dill is not your first pick, don’t despair…there are 48 other options!

So, here we go…

NOTE #1: The recipe calls for fresh French-cut green beans, and actually gives instruction on how to cut them yourself. You can find the instructions on the pin’s original link.

This came right after she ran a lovely little tip of the day on how to finely shred financial documents. A VERY interesting read! Unfortunately, I already had a pound of frozen French-cut green beans, I just went with that.

Since I was preparing these at the same time I was working on the yummy scalloped potatoes, the Pandora was the same…my ever amazing Block Party Radio.

First up, the ingredients. Not really sure why this image turned out so blurry….but then again, a cell phone that was dropped in a bowl of mashed banana and milk* can only deliver so much, ya know?

NOTE #2: Now, since I used frozen French-cut green beans, the recipe took a little longer than 20 to do its thing. If you’re using fresh green beans, I’m assuming 16-20 minutes is the perfect amount of time. Also, since the beans weren’t fresh, they also didn’t turn out as nice and crunchy as Martha’s. We don’t cook our books as well as she does

This is what my frozen green beans looked like after 20 minutes on medium low. Definitely not done yet…

Step 7: But, I continued with the recipe anyway. Add the remaining butter.

Step 8: I gently mixed the butter in.

Step 9: I also used dried dill, which the recipe helpfully differentiated from the quantity of fresh dill.

Step 10: Add salt. The recipe does not specify a quantity, so just use your insider trading info.

Step 11: Same with pepper.

Step 12: Mix everything together, gently.

I left my green beans on the medium low heat for an additional 10-15 minutes, simply because there was still a lot of liquid left. Keeping it on medium low for the additional time allowed for the excess water to evaporate, and the butter, dill, and S&P to do their magic.

The final result was a perfectly seasoned, soft, tasty portion of French-cut green beans!

Ready for a taste of these criminally good green beans?

THE REVIEW

The ingredients: The recipe from this pin lists all the ingredients in a very neat and useful way and details the quantities really well. In terms of ingredient availability, everything that was used today you probably either already have in your fridge/pantry or you can easily find in your local supermarket. I especially appreciated that there was a detailed quantity for both fresh chopped and dried dill….and I’m glad there was, cause there’s a HUGE difference between 1 tablespoon of fresh dill and 1/4 of a teaspoon of dried! I also used frozen French-cut green beans, and it turned out great!

The recipe: The preparation directions are great! They provide just the right amount of detail and instruction. I was surprised that this recipe didn’t come with step-by step pictures, cause a lot of Martha Stewart recipes do, but since it is really very straightforward, there really wasn’t too much of a need for one.

However, if you’re like me, and decide to opt for frozen French-cut green beans, follow 2girlsandapin as we prepared this delicious side dish, since we like to take pictures of every minuscule detail!

The flavor: Even with me changing the recipe from using fresh to frozen French-cut green beans, the flavor of this side dish was absolutely divine! I’m definitely glad I let my green beans cook a little extra, after the addition of butter, dill, salt, and pepper. I think this process gave the green beans time to absorb a lot of the dill’s distinct flavor, which can sometimes definitely be overpowering. This was most certainly NOT the case with this recipe…the butter, dill, and S&P blended perfectly and created just the right amount of flavor for our delicate friends.

Issues: I had absolutely no issues making this recipe. Aside from adding the extra cooking time, once the butter and seasonings were added, this recipe yields delicious results just as it is.

Comments: If you didn’t bother to go through the step-by-step process and followed me as I made this dish, I’ll recap a few pointers I had throughout.

The recipe calls for 1 pound of fresh French-cut green beans, and actually gives instruction on how to cut them yourself. Since I already had a pound of frozen French-cut green beans in my freezer, I just decided to save a little time and opted for frozen. Good thing to know, this recipe works VERY well with frozen green beans!

Needless to say, since there is a good bit of chemistry difference between frozen French-cut green beans, and fresh green beans cut the French way, the recipe took a little longer than 20 to do its thing. If you’re using fresh green beans, I’m assuming 16-20 minutes is the perfect amount of time. If not, follow the recipe, but keep the beans on medium low heat, until the excess liquid goes away.

Final Verdict: I give this one a 9/10, simply because I don’t actually know what the fresh green bean flavor would be, so I can’t compare. Using the frozen kind, this recipe was very light, tasty, and seasoned to perfection. The significant other gave it a 7/10. In his words:

“Is this the best thing I’ve ever tasted? No. Is it the most innovative thing you’ve made? No, not by a long shot. Is it delicious for what it is? Absolutely!”

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